In many information processing systems, testing and other types of investigation of new or upgraded software products in conjunction with software deployment relies heavily on inefficient manual activities performed by software technicians. For example, it is common in some systems for individual technicians investigating failures or other issues relating to new or upgraded software products to separately characterize their respective investigations using key words of their choosing. Such an approach is not only inefficient, but it is highly subjective. For example, important relations between issues investigated by different technicians may not become apparent if the technicians choose different key words to describe their respective investigations. Conventional practices of this type can therefore unduly delay the process of deploying new or upgraded software in numerous contexts.